Smokers Have a 72% Chance of Getting Deadly Lung Disease

A new study has revealed that some smokers have a 72% chance of being diagnosed with a deadly lung disease. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), such as bronchitis or emphysema, is mainly caused by smoking, air pollution and exposure to dust and chemicals at work.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that this will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.

The study had researchers focus on studying 24 million genetic differences in people to discover those who are at greater risk.

The results were that for every 100 people with this genetic make-up who also smoked, 72 would develop COPD.

The study involved more than 100 scientists and 350,000 people from 13 different countries.

Another result of the study was that researchers found that risk of COPD could be reduced by half if people stopped smoking in early adulthood.

About 900,000 people in the UK have COPD, costing the NHS more than £800m a year and the overall economy some £3.8bn in lost productivity.